2026-06-16 12:56:AM <br/> Tags: #AmericanJewry #organization #Lobby #Media #NeoConservatism ![[image-292.png|897x147]] # Middle East Media and Research Institute (MEMRI) - The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an American pro-Israel 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1998 that monitors and reports on political developments in the Middle East and the Arab world. - According to its website, MEMRI was formed to "inform the debate over U.S. policy in the Middle East."[^1] - MEMRI monitors and translates source media in Arabic, Farsi, Urdu-Pashtu, Dari, Turkish, Russian, and Chinese for use by Western governments, law enforcement agencies, institutions, policy makers, journalists, and academics for the purpose of "tackling threats and fighting extremism."[^2] - According to its website, MEMRI has produced over 47,000 translations and analyses.[^4] - MEMRI is headquartered in Washington D.C. with "branch offices in various world capitals." - According to its website, "MEMRI material is used extensively by government bodies and legislatures; militaries - both U.S. and foreign; media; academia; and the public at large."[^1] - MEMRI also states that it, "on a daily basis," "lends support to all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, including over 200 units, in carrying out the war on terror."[^1] #### Activities - MEMRI has produced a number of notable projects including: - Jihad & Terror Threat Monitor (JTTM) - monitors and produces research on jihadi networks and groups that "educate and preach jihad and martyrdom in mosques, school systems, and the media."[^1] - The JTTM is primarily focused on Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and the Arab world more broadly.[^13] - The Reform Project - The Reform project aims to assist those "promoting reform in the Arab and Muslim world." - The project is focused on democratization; women's rights; countering radical Islamism; introducing "tolerant and pluralistic context in schoolbooks;" advancing "secularism, religious tolerance, and equality;" combatting antisemitism, and promoting LGBTQ rights.[^14] - The Antisemitism Documentation Project/Lantos Archives - documents "antisemitism in the Arab and Muslim world."[^1] - According to its website, "MEMRI's objective is to bring this issue front and center, to present evidence so legal countermeasures can be taken, and to inform public policy makers in order to provide the informational infrastructure for policies, strategies and legislative initiatives to counter anti-semitism."[^15] - Iran Studies Project (ISP) - "monitors, translates, and analyzes content from the Iranian media on a day-to-day basis."[^16] - Through "hundreds of original analyses," the ISP has emphasized "Iran's pursuit of its nuclear and ballistic missile capability and its expansion in the region." - A "special focus" of the ISP is monitoring Iranian-backed Shiite militias and groups in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. - White Supremacist Online Incitement Project - The project (now called Violent Extremist Threat Monitor) monitors online activity of "individuals who are posting, disseminating, sharing, and circulating hateful and antisemitic content, with a focus on incitement, calls to action, and actual threats against Jews, Jewish groups, and Jewish institutions, people of color, LGBTQ, political and other prominent figures, government officials and agencies, and the public at large." *The White Supremacist Online Incitement Project is now called the "Violent Extremist Threat Monitor (VETM)." The White Supremacist Online Incitement Project notably only focused on online activity against Jews, with the VETM mentioning other supposed target groups.*[^5][^1] - VETM reports are restricted to "only government, media, and academia with full credentials."[^6] - MEMRI, usually meticulous and accurate in its translations, is known to produce occasional misleading translations, most often presenting enemies of Israel in a bad light. MEMRI is described as using the translation practice of _explicitation_ (where implicit source-language meanings become explicit in translation) while selectively choosing which translations to publish, thereby guiding its overall body of translated material in ways that can favor their ideological inclinations.[^17] - In one such misleading translation in 2007, MEMRI mistranslated the words of a young Palestinian girl to make her present her as a suicidal terrorist wishing to "annihilate the Jews."[^8] - [[Glenn Beck]], a prominent pro-Israel conservative talk show host and CNN host at the time of the 2007 mistranslation, brought MEMRI's founder and CEO Yigal Carmon on his show to defend and promote MEMRI's work.[^8] #### Funding and Donors - In 2021 MEMRI reported $9.24 million in revenue.[^3] *MEMRI has not reported any financial information since 2021.* - MEMRI donors include: - [[Seth Klarman]] - $615,000 from 2003-2013 - [[Crown Family Philanthropies]] - $100,000+ annually - [[Jewish Communal Fund]] - $1,102,072 from 2017-2025 - [[Paul E. Singer Foundation]] - $275,000 in 2012. - [[Harold Grinspoon Foundation]] - $62,500 from 2005-2008 - [[Adelson Family Foundation]] - $250,000+[^9] - [[Middle East Forum]] - $100,000+[^9] - [[Irving Moskowitz]]' foundation - $110,000+[^9] - [[Koret Foundation]] - $375,000+[^9] - [[Bob Shillman]]'s foundation - $31,700 in 2006[^11] - [[Len Abramson]]'s foundation - $100,000 from 2006-2007[^11] - [[Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA)|Jewish Federation]] of Greater Washington - $51,000 in 2006[^11] - [[Marcus Foundation]] - $100,000 in 2009[^11] - [[Michael Milken]]'s foundation - $105,000 from 2006-2008[^11] - [[William Rosenwald]] Family Fund (managed in part by his daughter [[Nina Rosenwald]]) - $85,000 from 2005-2007[^11] - [[Roger Hertog]]'s foundation - $25,000 in 2008[^11] - [[Harvey Meyerhoff|Harvey M.]] and Lyn P. Meyerhoff Fund - $100,000 from 2004-2008[^11] - United States State Department - $200,000 in 2011 to "conduct a project that documents antisemitism and Holocaust glorification in the Middle East."[^9][^12] #### Notable Figures - Yigal Carmon - Founder - Carmon was chief counterterrorism advisor to Israeli Prime Ministers [[Yitzhak Rabin]] and [[Yitzhak Shamir]].[^1] - Carmon was a colonel in Israel's military intelligence, [[Aman]].[^7] - [[Meyrav Wurmser]] - Co-founder[^8 - Meyrav Wurmser is Israeli-born. - Oliver “Buck” Revell - Chairman of the board of directors[^2] - Revell is a former FBI Associate Deputy Director and board member at [[Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA)|JINSA]] and the [[Foundation for Defense of Democracies]].[^10] - [[James Woolsey]] - Board member[^2] - [[Stuart Eizenstat]] - Board member - [[Deborah Lipstadt]] - Board member - [[Natan Sharansky]] - Board member - [[Alan Dershowitz]] - Board member - [[Mortimer Zuckerman]] - Board member - [[Elliott Abrams]] - Board member circa 2011[^9] - [[John Bolton]] - Board member circa 2011[^9] - [[Ehud Barak]] - Former board member[^9] - [[Elie Wiesel]] - Board member in memoriam - [[Herbert London]] - Board member in memoriam and former president of the [[Hudson Institute]]. - [[Edgar Bronfman Sr.]] - Board member in memoriam - [[Irving Kristol]] - Board member in memoriam - [[Max Kampelman]] - Board member in memoriam - Donald Rumsfeld - Board member in memoriam - [[Norman Podhoretz]] - Board member in memoriam #### References [^1]: Middle East Media Research Institute, “About Us,” [https://www.memri.org/node/24766](https://www.memri.org/node/24766). [^2]: Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), “About,” [https://www.memri.org/about](https://www.memri.org/about\). [^3]: “Middle East Media and Research Institute Inc,” _Nonprofit Explorer_, ProPublica, [https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/522068483](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/522068483). [^4]: Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), “Welcome,” [https://www.memri.org/welcome](https://www.memri.org/welcome). [^5]: Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), “Domestic Terrorism Threat Monitor (DTTM),” [https://www.memri.org/dttm](https://www.memri.org/dttm). [^6]: Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), “Domestic Terrorism Threat Monitor (DTTM) Subscription,” [https://www.memri.org/dttm/subscription](https://www.memri.org/dttm/subscription). [^7]: “Yigal Carmon,” _Wikipedia_, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yigal_Carmon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yigal_Carmon). [^8]: Brian Whitaker, “Arabic under Fire,” _The Guardian_, May 15, 2007, [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/may/15/arabicunderfire](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/may/15/arabicunderfire). [^9]: “Middle East Media Research Institute,” _Militarist Monitor_, November 9, 2011, [https://militarist-monitor.org/profile/middle_east_media_research_institute/](https://militarist-monitor.org/profile/middle_east_media_research_institute/). *Any information attributed to this footnote is from 2011 or before, so leadership and funding data from this source is historical.* [^10]: Oliver “Buck” Revell, (ret.), _Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA)_, [https://jinsa.org/person/oliver-buck-revell-fbi-ret/](https://jinsa.org/person/oliver-buck-revell-fbi-ret/). [^11]: Right Web “Middle East Media Research Institute 501(c)3 Financing, 1999-2009” _Militarist Monitor_, November 2011, [https://militarist-monitor.org/images/uploads/Right_Web_Nov_2011_-_MEMRI_Funders.pdf](https://militarist-monitor.org/images/uploads/Right_Web_Nov_2011_-_MEMRI_Funders.pdf). *Any information attributed to this footnote is from 2009 or before, funding data from this source, although accurate, is historical and not up to date.* [^12]: Ruth Ellen Gruber, “State Dept. Gives $200,000 Grants to MEMRI, Centropa,” _Jewish Telegraphic Agency_, August 15, 2011, [https://www.jta.org/2011/08/15/united-states/state-dept-gives-200000-grants-to-memri-centropa](https://www.jta.org/2011/08/15/united-states/state-dept-gives-200000-grants-to-memri-centropa). [^13]: Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), “Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM),” [https://www.memri.org/jttm](https://www.memri.org/jttm). [^14]: Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), “Reform in the Muslim World,” [https://www.memri.org/subjects/democratization-arab-and-muslim-world](https://www.memri.org/subjects/democratization-arab-and-muslim-world). [^15]: Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), “Antisemitism Documentation Project,” [https://www.memri.org/subjects/antisemitism-documentation-project](https://www.memri.org/subjects/antisemitism-documentation-project). [^16]: Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), “Iran,” [https://www.memri.org/countries/iran](https://www.memri.org/countries/iran). [^17]: Othman Abualadas, “Explicitation and Ideology in Media Translation: The Case of MEMRI,” _The International Journal for Translation & Interpreting Research_ 16, no. 1 (2024), [https://www.trans-int.org/index.php/transint/article/view/1793/490](https://www.trans-int.org/index.php/transint/article/view/1793/490).